Death, Roadtrips and the Search for Travis Stoll
by MerAngel
Summary: Travis Stoll is missing from Camp Half-Blood. Connor enlists Nico to help him find his missing brother. What follows is an adventure of epically strange proportions. Nico better enjoy himself while he's still free of Westover Hall.
1. Chapter 1

Nico di Angelo was woken up way too early. He liked to sleep in for as long as possible and his reaction to being woken up was less than pleasant. Bianca had been smart enough to never do that to him, but nowadays, all he had were his friends at camp.

"Hey Nico! You're going to miss breakfast!"

Nico rolled over, trying to block out the sound of the human alarm clock outside his door. He wondered if he could just smack this person on the head like a normal alarm clock. The banging and calling his name started again. Nico groaned and got out of bed.

"I'm coming," he said. "You can stop abusing my door now." He grabbed his orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and pulled it over his head. He looked in the mirror hanging against the far wall and realized he had serious bed head. It almost made him look like Percy. He smoothed out the bits that were sticking up and finished getting dressed.

"Nico, everyone's heading up to the pavilion. Hurry up in there!"

"I told you I'm coming," Nico said, throwing the cabin door open. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Percy was the one who was banging on the door. "Why didn't you just head up without me?"

Percy gave Nico a friendly pat on the shoulder. "I can't let you be late for breakfast. They won't start until everyone's up there."

"Thanks, I guess," Nico said.

"Come on," Percy said, giving Nico a gentle shove forward. "Don't keep the campers waiting."

Nico headed toward the pavilion, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. The weather at Camp Half Blood was always wonderful, but that morning the air was humid. Nico's skin itched and he started sweating. Mornings like these always made him want to stay in bed.

He sat down at his table. He had to have an entire table to himself, like Percy. He was basically the only member of the Hades cabin. He didn't mind too much. Having a lot people in the cabin would be a bit too much for him. Still, it was times like these that he missed Bianca. He missed having his older sister standing next to him, laughing or telling him that everything would work out. Thinking about it created a cold lump in his stomach.

A nymph set his breakfast in front of him. It was waffles today. They looked delicious, just like everything else they served. Hopefully, warm waffles would stop him from thinking too much about his sister.

Nico put a waffle from his stack into the brazier for his dad. He hoped Hades liked waffles.

Nico liked spending time alone. Percy and Annabeth were awesome friends, but ever since they started dating, he realized it was best to give them their space. When he couldn't stand all the lovey-dovey stuff, he went to hang out with Mrs. O'Leary instead.

Mrs. O'Leary was always affectionate, which could sometimes result in Nico being pinned by and covered in drool. That was the only part he minded. As a son of Hades, he got on well with hellhounds.

"Hey girl," Nico said, scratching behind one of Mrs. O'Leary's ears. Mrs. O'Leary responded by giving him a friendly lick. Nico wiped the spit off with his shirt. He picked up the shield that they used for a Frisbee and tossed it. Nico had small arms, but he managed to get the shield gliding through the air. Mrs. O'Leary caught it and brought it back so Nico could throw it again.

"Yo, Nico!"

Nico launched the shield again before he looked in the direction of the shout. Percy was waving to him. Mrs. O'Leary caught Percy's scent and bounded over to him, knocking him flat.

"Hey!" Percy laughed. "Down girl!" When Mrs. O'Leary freed him, his face and the collar of his shirt were covered in slobber. Percy made a face, but the spit was off of him in a millisecond. Percy was lucky to have powers over water.

"Did you just come to visit Mrs. O'Leary?" Nico asked, helping Percy to his feet.

"No," Percy said. He looked a little worried for a minute. "I think something's happening. We need to head to the big house."

"Is it good or bad news?" Nico asked, getting worried.

Percy shrugged. He waved an arm for Nico to follow him as he loped off. Nico tried to keep up, despite having shorter legs.

A meeting was being held. All of the cabin leaders had showed up except for the Hermes, Iris and Ares cabin leaders. Nico took his seat at the game table. Percy and Annabeth got seats next to each other, as usual. Slowly, the missing leaders finally got to the table and sat down. Connor and Travis Stoll hadn't turned up yet.

Finally, Connor came into the big house, alone. This was surprising. Wherever there was Connor, there had to be Travis with him. The Stoll brothers were as thick as thieves (pun might have been intended). Connor sat down without a word and stared at the opposite wall.

Chiron wheeled over to the table in his wheelchair. He usually came to meetings in wheelchair form because it was easier to sit at the table.

"Everyone," he said. "This meeting has been called because Travis Stoll has gone missing."

The cabin leaders all reacted in different ways. Some of them just looked shocked. Others talked amongst each other. Nico stared at Connor, who seemed to be tuning out all the noise. It was weird to not see Travis sitting next to him. It was like one of Connor's arms had been cut off.

"What are we going to do about it?" Clarisse said. "If he's missing, he's missing." She shrugged. "People go missing all the time."

Annabeth stood up, leaning against the table. "But if he's just missing, then we should assign a quest to find him. If any campers go missing, we have to find out what happened. Who knows? This could affect all of us."

The other cabin leaders groaned. "We can't deal with another crisis!" someone said. "We just recovered from the war."

"Let's hope this is nothing as serious," Chiron said. "But we should assign a quest." He turned to Connor, who had stopped staring off into space. "You will be the leader for this quest. You'll have to consult the oracle, of course and choose who will come with you."

Connor nodded. "Sure, I'll get right on it." He stood up and left right then. He was probably headed to the cave or whatever where Rachel stayed when she was at camp.

After that, the meeting ended. Nico could imagine what Connor was going through. Even though Travis was possibly alive, the situation was like when Nico lost Bianca. Suddenly, there was this empty space in the world and everything felt unreal. Then you started talking about that person in the past tense and it felt like any moment they would just step out and say, "Hey! I'm back. Did you miss me?"

He wandered back to his cabin. There was a summer reading book waiting for him in there. As much as he didn't want to waste time reading it, he knew he had to. He'd been dodging school for a while, but he'd been re-enrolled at Westover Hall aka the stupid military school that he'd been glad to get away from when he was ten.

He flopped back onto his bed and opened the book. Being a demigod meant having dyslexia and ADHD, which made reading assignments more than a little difficult. The book was okay, from what he could gather. He hadn't picked it up in a long time, so he'd forgotten what happened in the chapters before and he had to start all over again.

Nico was almost halfway through when he heard someone knock on his door. "Come in," he said, assuming it was Percy.

Connor Stoll stuck his head through the door. "Nico! Get up and get packing!"

Nico dropped the book and sat up. "W-What? What are you doing here?"

"You're being drafted, soldier," Connor said, walking further into the room. He snatched the book up and flipped through it. "Looks boring," he commented, tossing it over his shoulder.

"Hey! I have to finish that for school!"

Connor looked around the room. "Pretty swank cabin you got here, Nico," he said. Then he folded his arms across his chest and said, "What are you still doing sitting down? Get started!"

Nico groaned and rubbed his temples. He had a bad temper, like his father. Connor liked to push the limits of his patience. He tried to stay calm as he said, "Let me get this straight. You want me to go on the quest with you?"

"Yeah," Connor said. "If you're worried about the book, I've read it already. I can tell you how it ends."

_That's not what I'm worried about,_ Nico thought. "Who else is going on this quest?"

"Just us," Connor said. "I think we'll be enough."

"But why me?" Nico practically shouted.

Connor sat down next to Nico and put an arm around his shoulders. He shook him in a weird "buddy" type way. "Nico," he said. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"No."

"And you'd go to bat for me, right?"

"Did you hear me? I'm not your friend."

"It's because we're friends that I chose you to go on this quest with me. Plus, I know you're capable and you've never been on an official quest before. This will be a good experience for you."

"You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?"

"You understand?" Connor asked. Nico wanted to shake Connor a little bit. But Connor had chosen him for this quest and he obviously wanted Nico to come with. And Nico couldn't let him go alone. Even though Connor was older than him by about two or three years, Nico felt more grown up than Connor sometimes.

"Yeah, I understand."

"Good!" Connor stood up. "Now get packing! We're leaving as soon as possible." He waltzed out of the cabin, finally leaving Nico to enjoy the silence.

Nico grabbed his duffle bag from under the bed and started getting his things in order. Well, at least he was going to have something to do for the next week or so.


	2. Chapter 2

"So Connor wanted YOU to go on the quest?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Nico said, shouldering his duffel bag. "I don't know if I'm going to survive."

Percy shrugged. He was busy playing hacky sack with Annabeth and listening at the same time. Percy thought he could multitask, but he had a hard time actually listening. He had a hard time listening anyway, if Annabeth was to be believed.

"You'll do fine," said Annabeth, kicking the hacky sack back to Percy. "I mean, Connor isn't that bad. If he starts bothering you, just count to ten."

"Does that really help?" Nico asked, doubting it. If it was that easy, why didn't his dad try it once in a while?

"You probably have to get going soon," Percy said, stopping the game. "Good luck finding Travis." He held out his arm. Nico shook it and turned to Annabeth.

"Don't worry about it," Annabeth said. She gave Nico a quick hug, which was kind of odd for her. "I'm sure it won't be that hard of a quest."

Nico shrugged. A search and rescue mission shouldn't be hard, but he had a weird feeling about the quest. It seemed simple enough.

After saying good bye to Percy and Annabeth, he headed for the camp border. Connor and Chiron were standing by the pine tree. Connor waved at Nico, who sighed inwardly. He hoped they could get the quest over with as soon as possible.

"Where's Argus?" Nico asked, looking around for the many eyed guard. He usually drove campers to their first destination.

Connor slung an arm around Nico's shoulders. "I've got my license! Now we can travel without having to pay for bus or cab fare."

Nico hoped that Connor actually could drive. Nico's plans for the future didn't include dying in a ditch somewhere.

Connor seemed kind of giddy for someone whose brother was missing. You just couldn't keep a Stoll down. They sprang back up like a rubber band. Maybe the thrill of driving around on a mission had overcome Connor's worry.

Chiron put a hand on Nico's free shoulder. "Good luck," he said. "I hope that nothing horrible has happened to Travis and that you find him quickly."

"We'll do our best," Connor said. "I'm sure we'll find him somewhere." For a second, a flicker of doubt flashed across his features. The next minute, he was smiling again, so Nico thought he might have imagined it.

"Go safely," Chiron said, making the sign for warding off evil. Nico copied the gesture, feeling a bit more relaxed. The fate of the world didn't hang on this quest. There were no evil Titans plotting to topple Olympus. This was just an ordinary quest (as ordinary as it got, at least).

"Come on, Nico," the younger Stoll brother called, walking past the tree. Nico backed up, letting his gaze linger on camp for a minute. Then he turned and followed Connor over the hill.

Connor's car was, strangely enough, a minivan. Nico stifled a laugh as soon as he saw it. For some reason, the thought of questing in a beat up, light blue minivan was hilarious. Connor shook his head, like he was humorously disappointed.

"My mom's," he said. "She said, 'Connor, if you need some wheels, take my car. I can part with it for a while.'" Connor sighed. "But it's transport and beggars can't be choosers."

Nico threw his bag into the backseat. The inside of the minivan looked just as beat up as the outside. The seats were worn down and there were about a million crumbs in the carpeting. It smelled like cheap air freshener that had been added last minute. He looked at the back of the minivan and found, of course, a dozen bumper stickers.

Connor jumped in and called for Nico to get in so they could get started. Nico sat shotgun and found that the seats were so old they had an imprint from the many people who had sat there before. It was also as soft as a pillow.

"Where are we going first?" Nico asked.

Connor passed him a map. "I don't know exactly where Travis went missing, but it's best to start with NYC."

It sounded like a good place to start. When Nico had been looking for information about his mother, he started with New York. Not to mention, it was a pretty good spot for monsters to be lurking around and such. One of them could have taken Travis, except monsters were usually out to kill.

The minivan started with a little jolt, then started off at a steady speed down the road. The strawberry fields became a blur outside the window. Nico opened the map on his lap and scanned it. If things didn't work out in New York, where were they going to go next?

"No idea," was Connor's answer. "But hey! That's what makes it an adventure, right?"

"We can't just drive around," Nico said. "We need to find Travis."

"I know that," Connor said. "But I don't know where he is. If we're gonna find him, we need to drive around and look anywhere he might be."

Nico looked at Connor. He was leaning away from the wheel with his back straight, his eyes locked on the road. He looked alive, like he'd just chugged an energy drink.

"When we find him," Connor said. "I've got to tell him about this awesome prank I thought up. Don't worry, since you're helping me, we'll spare you."

_That's good to hear,_ thought Nico, who had never actually witnessed a Stoll brother prank. He'd never pulled a prank on someone. Mostly, he just played Mythomagic and hoped people would leave him alone. When he'd realized he was a demigod, there wasn't any room for pranking people. He wondered how the Stoll brothers did it.

The air conditioner was broken in the minivan and the temperature steadily rose until Nico thought he was going to pass out. He'd already shed his aviator's jacket and he was still sweating like a pig. Not even Tartarus was this hot. Connor seemed unaffected by the heat, but he did roll down the windows.

The New York City skyline was impressive. You could argue that it was just a bunch of tall buildings standing really close together, but you could also argue it looked like they were competing for who was the tallest. There was always one that you thought was the tallest building in the city, then you'd find one that went up just a little bit farther.

Nico had seen it before, but he was getting a crick in his neck from staring up for so long. At the top of Empire State, Olympus hovered. Annabeth had been working to repair it after the battle with the Titans. There was no reason to go up and see it. Nico turned away from it.

"Alright," said Connor. "If we're going to get any leads on where Travis is, we need to find somebody who would have that info. We've got to go looking for monsters."

"Aren't we usually running from those?" Nico asked, unable to repress a sneer. After the super heated car ride and dealing with Connor for more time than was necessary, Nico's patience was wearing thin.

"Yeah," Connor said. "I think we can find one and trap it. When we do, we grill him for any info about Travis."

"Where are we going to find a monster?"

Connor looked around, then sidled up next to Nico. "Haven't you noticed how they just seem to come out? They'll smell us and come running. We just need to be prepared."

"What makes you think they're going to hone in on us, specifically?"

"I think a son of Hades and a son of Hermes thrown in extra is enough to draw them out."

_Wonderful,_ Nico thought. _Our first day of the quest and I'm bait. _

…..

**Wow a new chapter. I'll try to update every week. I hope you guys are enjoying this. Thank you for reading. Please review. **


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